Ethics panel defers to Justice in Rep. Grimm probe

Tuesday, November 26, 2013 -- The Associated Press

Sections:

U.S. Politics

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Author(s):

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The House Ethics Committee is again deferring an investigation into Rep. Michael Grimm, a former FBI agent, for possible campaign finance violations — leaving the matter in the hands of the Justice Department, which is conducting a criminal probe.

The committee said the New York Republican remains under investigation by the Justice Department for potentially violating campaign finance laws by soliciting and accepting prohibited contributions from foreign donors, actions that may have caused false information to be included in campaign finance reports.

One focus of the investigation is whether Grimm improperly offered to help Ofer Biton, an Israeli citizen obtain a green card. Biton has close ties to Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto, an Israeli Rabbi whose wealthy, zealous followers have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Grimm's 2010 campaign.